Lois Seamon of Farmington called the Sun Journal on Friday concerned about the ballots for Tuesday’s election. Some of her friends, she said, were confused when they looked at their absentee ballots.

When they went to complete their absentee ballots, Seamon’s friends couldn’t find a question about TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.

TABOR is Question 1 on the ballot.

The question reads: “Do you want to limit increases in state and local government spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth and to require voter approval for all tax and fee increases?”

“My friends called me and asked, ‘Where’s this TABOR thing,” Seamon said. “They don’t connect Question 1 with TABOR.”

“I think people understand the pros and cons on the issue,” Seamon continued. “But I’m afraid some people didn’t connect the two.”

TABOR is Question 1.

Question 2 is a constitutional amendment that fixes the rules concerning the collection of signatures to get an issue on the statewide ballot.

It’s not directly related to TABOR. Instead, it sets an 18-month deadline for the collection of signatures to send an issue to voters after a question has been approved by the secretary of state. It also clarifies that signatures cannot be older than a year to be valid.

Hello, it’s me again

If the telephone rings this weekend, it’s probably a call about Tuesday’s election.

The campaigns have shifted into the final gear in the drive toward Election Day, and that means reaching out to voters with volunteers.

The Maine Democratic Party, which says it has volunteers on par with a presidential election year, hopes to place as many as 300,000 person-to-person telephone calls with volunteers before polls close Tuesday.

The Maine Republican Party, while not as specific with its goals, said that it will make thousands upon thousands of calls urging people to vote.

According to Barry Flynn, a spokesman for the Republican Party, it’s the one-on-one contact that’s most effective in bringing voters out.

But those volunteer phone calls are only part of the total. The parties, a number of outside groups and candidates themselves have also paid for automatic phone calls going, often called “robo-calls” because a computer delivers a recorded message to whomever happens to pick up a phone.

In just a quick tally of phone-bank spending this week, almost $92,160 has been spent on phone calls. That’s somewhere between 1.5 million and 4.6 million numbers dialed statewide, at a cost of 2 cents to 6 cents each. Some of those calls, undoubtedly, have already been made.

There are only about 1.3 million people in the state.

Send it back

Clark Souther, the Democrat running in House District 81 against Republican Gary L. Knight, says he’ll be sending back any matching money he gets as a Maine Clean Election Act candidate.

Souther said Friday that he’s probably qualified for $4,000 or more, but he’s not going to use it.

The race between the two Livermore Falls residents is still tight, he said, but he doesn’t think the money will do him any good.

“We’re pretty close,” he said. “But I think most people have made up their minds.”

According to Souther, he has one more piece of direct mail that should hit this weekend. After that, he said, he’s not spending any more taxpayer money.

Vote today

The city clerk’s offices in Auburn and Lewiston will be open from 9 a.m. to noon today for voter registration and absentee voting. New voter registration requires proof of residency and a photo ID.

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